Tens of thousands of people flooded into New York's Central Park for a free public lecture by Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. The lecture, one of the highlights of the Dalai Lama's ongoing US tour, had all the trappings of an open-air rock concert
Slouched in a patio chair wearing a beach-bum cap and a stylish windbreaker, the software engineer rubbed his eyes and tried to shake off his hangover. The sun was shining brightly in a clear blue sky and it was already well past 1 p.m., but the 33-year-old Beijing native had just ordered breakfast.
Crowds gather in Central Park's East Meadow to hear the Dalai Lama speak, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2003, in New York. The exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader was in New York for the last stop of a five-city tour.
Photo by Joan K. Rosen
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The Sixth session of the 13th Assembly of the Tibetan People's Deputies on Friday met for its concluding session. The Assembly passed several bills on various issues during the ten-day session.
The Dalai Lama greets the crowd as he arrives to conduct a free lecture in New York's Central Park, Sunday Sept. 21, 2003. The exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader was in New York for the last stop of a five-city tour. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Truth seekers, loyal subjects, peace lovers and the merely curious blanketed the East Meadow in Central Park yesterday to receive the Dalai Lama's persistent message of compassion and nonviolence.
The Jokhang Temple, one of Tibetan Buddhism's most sacred sites, has endured theological feuds, political upheaval and widespread destruction at the hands of ax-wielding communist Red Guards.
Tibetan parliament-in-exile has passed a resolution paving the way for transfer of some powers from the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to the assembly.
President Johannes Rau surprised observers with a forthright speech in which he demanded that the Chinese government show respect for human rights. Actually Rau spoke of ordinary matters - it was the surprise of the public that was significant: in China
